the 5 year plan

I had coffee with Dave Cotter, founder of mpire, yesterday. We were talking about the start up experience. Two points I made that I think are worth repeating:
i) It takes 5 years to build a company of value.  I know there are instance where people are successful building great assets in less than 5 years -- but in my experience, it takes most businesses time to settle down and work out the kinks to start making real money.
ii) Start ups are all about the emotional roller coaster ride. You go up and you go down much more than one does at a big company. It's this ride that people really sign up for when they start a company.